U.S. Xpress expands presence, range in Mexico

The deal will allow U.S. Xpress to expand its range of services in Mexico to include warehousing and distribution, inventory management, order fulfillment and freight management. (The Trucker file photo)

The Trucker News Services

11/12/2012

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — U.S. Xpress Enterprises, a leading provider of transportation services throughout North America, has announced that it will significantly expand its presence and range of U.S.-Mexican cross-border services through two key deals.

First, U.S. Xpress will purchase a 90 percent interest in Xpress Internacional.

With a terminal network in major cities throughout Mexico, Xpress Internacional allows U.S. Xpress to provide a true door-to-door service between the two countries.

The deal marks an expansion of the joint venture originally created by the two companies five years ago.

The company has also formed a joint venture with Monterrey-based Logisti-K, a leading provider of cross-border and Mexican logistics services in operation since 2002.

The deal will allow U.S. Xpress to expand its range of services in Mexico to include warehousing and distribution (including cross-dock, door-to-door and end-to-end solutions), inventory management, order fulfillment, freight management — both domestic and international — as well as freight forwarding services via full truckload, less-than-truckload, intermodal, ocean and air.

These deals come as a direct result of growing customer interest across Asia, Europe, North and South America in shipping to and from Mexico, as well as from the desire of shippers to find the most secure and reliable logistics services at a reasonable price, according to Brian Quinn, vice president and general manager of international services at U.S. Xpress.

“As global trade increases with Mexico, we see the demand for providing customers with solutions for supply chain management from the point of creation to the final end-point distribution,” Quinn said. “The majority purchase of Xpress Internacional confirms our commitment to cross-border truckload transportation and our investment in Logisti-K opens new capabilities to provide those solutions.”

Mexican expansion comes on the heels of U.S. Xpress’s recently-announced cross-border partnership with Canadian carrier Maritime and marks the company’s continued commitment to becoming a true one-stop-shop for North American shipping needs.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Xpress Internacional provides border crossing and truckload transportation of U.S. Xpress trailer equipment throughout Mexico.

With more than 200 daily border crossings through Laredo, this partnership has expanded to become a lead provider for this gateway to and from north and central Mexico, Quinn said

Logisti-K was founded in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2002 with the goal of combining the founders’ knowledge and experience in the transportation, distribution and storage business to deliver technology-driven and value-added logistics solutions.

The company works with its customers to improve their supply networks, focusing on quality, cost reduction and security, officials said.

Services include warehousing and distribution (domestic, cross-dock and end-to-end solutions), forwarding (land/cross-border FTL and LTL, ocean and air FCL and LCL and intermodal), as well as custom brokerage, pick-and-pack quality certifications and sequencing.